Bomb-dropping device for aircraft



1,621,654 March 1927' o. J. BOOS BOMB DROPPING DEVICE FOR AIRCRAFT Filed April 12. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 0/10/200 JBooS March 22, 1927. O. J. Boos BOMB DROPPING DEVICE FOR AIRCRAFT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 12. 1925 1,621,654 Mamh 1927' 0...]. E008 BOMB DROPPING DEVICE FOR AIRCRAFT Filed April 12. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 OrlandoJBoos V 9 V/Kiiw Patented 22, 1927.

ORLANDO J'. BOOS, 0]? LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

BOMB-DROPPING DEVICE FOR AIRCRAFT.

Application filed April 12, 1923. Serial No. 631,511.

This invention relates to air-plane equipment, and has for its object to provide means for dropping bombs fromair-planes.

It is an object of the invention to provide a means designed to improve the accuracy of flight of a bomb discharged from a travelling air plane. An object is to provide means for relatively rearwardly projecting a bomb from the carrying air-plane and thus to enable the bomb to have a substantially vertical line of descent toward an object or target from the moment it starts its downwand flight. In other words, it is an object of the invention to provide means which will discharge a bomb rearwardly with respect to the air-plane at a rate proportioned by the speed of flight, horizontally, of the airplane, and therefore obviate the provision which must be made by aviators when dropping bombs with a mere release without a horlzontal impulse except that due to the movement of the plane.

Other objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following specification of an embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an air-plane with which the invention isv combined, and showing, in dotted lines, the relative rojection of a bomb rearwardly from the p ane.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the line of flight of a bomb after its rearward projection from an air-plane in flight.

Fig. 3 is a view showing, diagrammatically, the trajectory of an air plane bomb as discharged'by a mere dropping from the plane.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, sectional and diagrammatic view showing in detail the bomb discharging apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail of a four-way valve in the piston retracting position.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the valve in a piston driving position.

Fig. 7 is a plan of the bomb rail and bomb rail' frame, and the bomb holding hand.

Fig. 8 is a cross section on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan of the opened bomb hand.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a modified form of the device.

The present invention is shown as combined with a conventional form of air-plane A, in the lower portion of the body of which there is arranged a frame including a lower pair of parallel rails 2, and an upper pair of parallel rails 3 which terminate at 4 at a position in advance of the rails 2, which latter are provided with upstanding posts 5, having a forwardly projecting bumper in the form of a V-shaped, transversely arranged member 6 pointing forwardly and acting as a spreader.

At the forward end of the rail frame there is fixedly mounted a pneumatic cylinder 7, having a piston 8, provided with a piston rod 9, the rear end of which is provided with a bomb holding hand consisting of what might be termed the palm portion 10, slidingly mounted upon the rails 2, and having at its sides levers forming inwardly turned, opposed fingers 11, the rear ends of which terminate in forwardly convergent meeting faces 12, which, when the hand moves into engagement with the spreader 6, are caused to open and therefore release a bomb B having tail blades 6 with shoulders C, designed to engage contiguous shoulders provided by the closed hand 10-11, as clearly shown in Figure 4.

When the hand is thrust rearwardly under action of the piston 8, the fingers are released by the ends 4 of the upper rails 3 and are automatically spread open to release the bomb, as by the contraction of a spring 13, which is connected to the fingers 11, which are mounted on pivots 11 on the palm so that the outer ends of the fingers may be sprung open in combination with the opening action of the spreader 6.

It is an object of the invention to provide means for projecting thebomb rearwardly as to the body of the air plane at the moment of releasing the bomb, so as to negative the tendency of the bomb to take'a curvedtrajectory such as indicated in Figure 3, and to cause it to take a substantially perpendicular trajectory, as shown in Figure 2, by overcoming the impulse imparted to the released bomb incident to the forward flight of the air-plane.

To that end, the bomb is adapted to be thrust rearwardly as to the body and line of flight of the vehicle by the piston 8. Means are also provided for regulating the velocity of the rearward thrust of the piston according to the rate of .forward flight of the vehicle.

As here shown, the piston is actuated by air pressure from an air cylinder 15, having a throttle or main valve 16, leading to the shell 17 of a manually controlled discharge valve. This shell is shown as forming a four-way valve, including a valve plug 18 which, when set in one position, as shown in Figure 5, permits the flow of fluid from the gate valve connection 16 to a bypass 19, leading to the rearward end of the pneumatic cylinder 7, and thus supplying air to force the piston 8 to its forward end to retract the bomb holding hand so that it will firmly hold the inserted bomb.

\Vhen it is desired to discharge a bomb, the aviator or other person in charge of the bombing apparatus pulls a trigger member 21, which is connected to a trigger or latch 22, which engages a lever arm 23 fixed to the rock shaft of the valve member 18. The valve member is adapted to be automatically thrown to the discharging position. as by a substantial spring 24, as soon as the trigger 22 is released. The release of the valve 18 by the trigger permits the valve to be turned to a position shown in Figure 6, and this allows air from the supply chamber 15 to pass into a conduit 25, leading to the forward end of the cylinder 7, with great force, and'a volume that is regulated according to the speed of the vehicle, Admission of the air in front of the piston 8 causes this to be driven rearwardly and carries the hand to the opening or discharge position, at which the bomb will be released.

As soon as the valve 18 has been thrown to the discharging position, it is adapted to be automatically re-set, and this is accomplished by the passage of air under pressure through a tube 27, which leads from the front end of the pneumatic cylinder 7 to a small chamber 28, in which is arranged a plston 29 that is connected by a link 30 to the valve 18, as by a lever arm 31. The tube 27 is provided with a swelled chamber 27* which serves as an expansion chamber into which the air will expand before becoming fully effective in the cylinder 28 to drive the valve setting piston 29 down. This is for the purpose of providing a timed movement for the re-setting of the valve 18.

It will be seen, therefore, that as soon as the trigger 22 has been pulled and the valve 18 thrown to the position to admit air to the cylinder 7, and the piston 8 driven rearwardly, the air pressure in the front end of the cylinder will become effective to restore the valve to its re-set position.

lVhen the piston is being driven rearwardly to discharge the bomb, exhaust of air from behind the piston is permitted by a reverse flow of air through the connection 19, which leads into the control valve shell 17, which is provided with an exhaust port 17 through which the expelled air will discharge through atmosphere.

An object of the invention is to provide means for regulating the speed of the discharging action of the piston 8, and for that purpose the valve 16 includes a member which is manually adjustable and is designed to remain set or adjusted, according to the rate of flight of the air-plane. For the purpose of setting the valve 16, its closure is provided with a link 16, and this in turn, is connected to a pointer 16", arranged on the instrument board of the air-plane, so as to be registered withone or another of a series of dial numbers 33, which indicate rate of flight. Also mounted on the instrument board is a speedometer 31, and the person in charge of the bomb discharging apparatus will, just before the moment of discharge, set the flight pointer 16 contigu ous .to the dial number 33 corresponding to the speed indicated by the speedometer, with the result that the bomb will be thrust rearwardly as to the air-plane, at a rate substantially equal to the rate of forward flight. In other words, the bomb is designed to be discharged without horizontal impulse in starting its passage to the earth.

In Figure 10 there is shown a slightly modified form of a bomb holding and releasing means. In this form, the bomb is held between a plunger head 35 and a finger 36, which is pivoted at 37 upon a guide 38, on which the bomb is mounted. The finger 36 is attached by a link 39 to a lever 40, the swinging end of which engages an end face on the head 35. Thus, when the head 36, which is driven by the piston in the pneumatic cylinder 7, drives the bomb rearwardly, the finger 36 swings down out of the way, and the lever 40 also swings downwardly under action of a tensioned spring 41 and of the finger 36; the spring 41 being attached to the link 39, which serves to throw the finger and lever down as the piston head 35 moves rearwardly.

Further embodiments, modifications and variations may be resorted to within the principle of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A bomb discharging apparatus for airplanes comprising a. cylinder, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder, means for releasably holding a bomb associated with said piston so that the bomb may be quickly carried rearwardly and released, means for admitting fluid pressure to said cylinder at either end thereof, and means for automatically admitting the fluid pressure to that end of the cylinder to return the piston to its initial position after the bomb has been released.

2. In combination with an air-plane, a bomb discharging apparatus including a bomb holding hand having fingers adapted to open and release a bomb, a fluid pressure mechanism for moving the hand to discharge the bomb, said mechanism including a pneumatic cylinder and piston, means for supplying compressed air thereto, a. manually controlled trigger valve for controlling the pneumatic action, and means for automatically re-setting the trigger valve after a discharging action.

3. A bomb discharging device for air- 1 planes comprising a cylinder, a piston adapted to be 'reciprocated within said cylinder, means associated with said piston for carrying and releasing a bomb, and means for automatically causing said piston to return to its initial position after release of said bomb.

5. A bomb discharging device comprising a pneumatic operated piston, means associated with said piston for releasing bomb, and means for automatically retracting said piston into its initial position preparatory to discharging a second bomb. 1

6. A bomb discharging device com rising a mechanism for'discharging a bom b,

and

means including a pneumatic operated pis-' ton for resetting the mechanism preparatory to discharging a second bomb.

7. A bomb discharging device comprising a pneumatically operated piston, means associated with said piston for rearwardly carryingand releasing a bomb, a valve for controlling fluid flow upon one side of said piston and an auxiliary piston for operating said valve to change the direction of flow to the other side of the first mentioned piston, whereby said first mentioned piston is retracting into initial position.

8. A bomb discharging device comprising a cylinder, a piston within said cylinder, means associated with said piston for rearwardly carrying and releasing a bomb, a valve for admitting fluid pressure to said cylinder and means including an auxiliary piston communicating with said cylinder, whereby when the first mentioned piston is at the end of its stroke and the bomb released, the. valvewill be operated to cause the first mentioned piston to return to its initial position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my 55 name to this specification.

ORLANDO J. 13005. 

